This web-based curriculum focuses on basic introductory astronomy concepts. The material is presented through interactive exercises, animations, and videos. Adopters can choose any combination of the ten chapters for a particular class. Each chapter...(View More) includes authentic student interaction with actual data where possible. Students master the scientific concepts and reasoning processes that lead to our current understanding of the universe through interactive tasks, prediction and reflection, experimentation, and model building.(View Less)

This series of learning modules is designed for adaptation in an introductory Earth science or planetary science course. The modules actively engage students through Mars remote-sensing data and Earth-based analogs to understanding Mars geology....(View More) Interviews with planetary scientists and geologists present current issues in planetary sciences.(View Less)

This project engages students in the science and engineering processes used by NASA Astrobiologists as they explore our Solar System and try to answer the compelling question, "Are we Alone?" Students will identify science mission goals and select...(View More) an astrobiologically significant target of interest: Mars, Europa, Enceladus or Titan. Students will then design their mission to this target in search of their chosen biosignature(s). Students will encounter the same considerations and challenges facing NASA scientists and engineers as they search for life in our Solar System. Students will need to balance the return of their science data with engineering limitations such as power, mass and budget. Risk factors play a role and will add to the excitement in this interactive science and engineering activity. Astrobiobound! will help students see how science and systems engineering are integrated to achieve a focused scientific goal. Includes an alignment document for NGSS and Common Core State Standards.(View Less)

This is an activity about how the Sun can affect the Earth's atmosphere, specifically the ionosphere. Learners will use real data from a Sudden Ionosphere Disturbance Monitor, or SID Monitor, to identify the signatures in the graphed data that can...(View More) be used to determine the times of sunrise and sunset. Although the SID monitors are designed to detect SIDs caused by solar flares, they also detect the normal influence of solar X-rays and UV light during the day as well as cosmic rays at nighttime. There is a distinct shape to a 24-hour SID data graph, with unique shapes, or signatures, of the graph appearing at sunrise and sunset.This activity is part of the Research with Space Weather Monitor Data educators guide. Use of and access to a Stanford Solar Center SID monitor and the internet is encouraged but not required. Locations without a SID monitor can use sample data provided in the educators guide.(View Less)

This is an activity about identifying solar flares. Learners will cross-reference data collected from a Sudden Ionosphere Disturbance, or SID, Monitor, the GOES solar catalog, and SOHO spacecraft images of the Sun to identify solar flares coming...(View More) from the Sun that are affecting Earth's ionosphere. This activity is part of the Research with Space Weather Monitor Data educators guide. Use of and access to a Stanford Solar Center SID monitor and the internet is encouraged but not required. Locations without a SID monitor can use SID data posted online: http://sid.stanford.edu/database-browser/.(View Less)